HomePASAY CITY, Philippines – Kazakhstan’s Alibek Baimendinov outlasted a field of 89 entries in (Event #17) the 2-Day No Limit Hold’Em (NLH) tourney to pick up his first ever Asian Poker Tour (APT) title to lead the four victors in Monday’s side events amidst the battle in the APT 2022 Philippines Main Event at the Grand Wing Casino, Newport World Resorts here.
Baimendinov outdueled Andrej Nagy of Slovakia for the title and the PhP461,200 (US$8,036) top prize .
Nagy got PhP307,600 (US$5,359) while third place went to Filipino grinder Edgar Asehan for PhP213,800 (US$3,726).
(Event #21) the Single Day NLH went to Australia’s Chris Costanzo after an ICM chop led to runner-up James Ong of the Philippines to pocket more cash than the eventual champion.
Costanzo, who has won numerous times in the Australian circuit, got the trophy but only PhP270,000 (US$4,705) with Ong picking up PhP357,700 (US$6,233) in “second place” money.
Another local boy in Ellezer Castillo got third for Ph174,600 (US$3,043).
It was a rare title for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the APT as Azim Orunov–a Russian national now residing in Dubai–took down (Event #22) the second Deep Stack Turbo (DST) after upending Korea’s Kim Kyung Hoi in the Heads-Up duel.
Azim Orunov (originally from Russia but now representing the UAE) wins his first title in the Asian region
Orunov, who has had numerous stints in the European circuit as well as the WSOP, gets only his second career title and first in the Asian region. He also won PhP158,800 (US$2,767) for the feat.
Kim got PhP105,800 (US$1,844) for his runner-up performance while Jeorge Lagatuz of the host nation took third for PhP73,600 (US$1,283).
Finally, the nightcap was (Event #23) another installment of the PhP40K (US$749) High-Rollers 6-Max Hyper Turbo this time had Daisuke Kurakami coming through for Japan after almost being shutout today.
Daisuke Kurakami (JPN) avoids a shutout for the Japanese by taking down the nightcap title
Kurakami garners his first ever APT title after cashing in Manila twice before. He also received the champion’s purse of PhP379,600 (US$6,615). Second place went to American Darren Yu for PhP203,600 (US$3,549) while Kosei Fujiwara of Japan took home PhP118,300 (US$2,061) for finishing in third.
Mike Takayama of the Philippines, who had already taken down two High-Rollers trophies in this staging, this time ended up in fourth for PhP74,500 (US$1,298).
Later today (November 22), the conclusion of (Event #20) the 2-day PhP100k (US$1,873) High-Rollers tiff headlines the side events going down alongside the Final 8 of the Main Event.
Registration for that event is still open for the first level of its resumption beginning at 1:00PM (UCT+8).
The opener of (Event #24) the 2-day NLH that begins at the same at and will be followed by (Event #25) the Single-Day High-Rollers with a buy-in of PhP76,000 (US$1,324) at 5:00PM while (Event #26) the High-Rollers 6-Max Hyper Turbo caps of the festivities at 10:00PM.
